Christmas Day is the NBA. The NFL has Thanksgiving, the NBA has Christmas.

And this year’s five-game slate hardly disappointed. First The John Wall-led Wizards opened by thrashing the Knicks and further reminding New York fans that their team is not good — not even a little.

Then Russell Westbrook put on a show in the Thunder’s win over the Spurs in San Antonio.

Then a vintage Dwyane Wade dropped 31 to spoil LeBron James’ Miami homecoming — which included video tributes for James and then almost everyone else on the floor.

Then came the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers vs. Bulls, which was of interest in large part because Derrick Rose is playing scary good again, but also because Nick Young continues to provide ridiculous comments.

And then, to finish it all off, the Clippers hosted the Warriors, a West Coast battle featuring two of (or maybe just the) league’s best point guards, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry.

If you missed any of the games: A) What were you thinking?, B) Relax, we’re here for you. Here were some of the high points (and low points) from each game.Read more…

Timofey Mozgov was a bloody mess after taking an elbow to the face. (Photo by @NBA)

The already depleted Nuggets got another scare Monday, with about 4:40 remaining in the first quarter against the Hornets.

Ty Lawson found Timofey Mozgov on the right block, but as he went up to shoot, his face met the elbow of Hornets big man Bismack Biyombo. Watching live, the play didn’t appear as bad as it must have felt for Mozgov. He clutched his head in pain befor standing up to head to the bench, blood dripping from his face, Drago-style.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There are a lot of words floating around the internet and airwaves about Lance Stephenson. Many of them aren’t complimentary.

In July, he signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Hornets. By December, the Hornets were already ready to trade him, according to multiple reports. The Pacers were interested, but another report said his former teammates were cool on the prospect of sharing the court with him again.

So what gives? Is Stephenson so hard to deal with that nobody is willing to do anything significant to take on what is a very talented player? The NBA’s general cold shoulder seems to be saying yes.

The Nuggets, looking to avenge their 12-point loss in Houston last Saturday and hoping to get back on the winning path, came close Wednesday as they hosted the Rockets. Arron Affalo sunk a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, but James Harden’s eights points in OT and 41 total on the night, plus Dwight Howard’s 24 points and 16 rebounds proved too much for Denver as it lost, 115-111.

When: Two weeks ago, Russell Westbrook returned to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lineup after missing 14 games because of a hand injury. He wasted no time having an enormous impact on the Thunder’s future. His big week for the evaluation period of Dec. 6-12 makes him The Denver Post’s NBA player of the week.

What’s up: In four games, the UCLA product averaged 27.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 52.6 percent from the field, and had a plus-9.0 rating. Led by Westbrook — and Kevin Durant — the Thunder won all four games.

Background: Staying on the court this season had been a struggle for Westbrook, who started the season having overcome a knee injury but then suffered a broken hand just minutes into the second game. A month later, he returned. Now he looks as strong, quick and explosive as the NBA has known him to be.

Dempsey’s take: One of the funnier moments of Oklahoma City’s season occurred Thursday, before a game against Minnesota, when Thunder coach Scott Brooks was briefed on the comparisons of Westbrook and Timberwolves rookie Zach Lavine. “I used to have to defend him,” Brooks said of West- brook. “Now, everyone wants to be Russell.” Westbrook has been on fire since returning to the court. He has always been the ultimate blend of speed and size at point guard.

Throughout his 18-plus seasons in the NBA, Kobe Bryant has drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan for obviousreasons. Now the Lakers great and five-time champion is on the verge of passing His Airness at No. 3 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, a feat he’s all but certain to achieve Sunday at Minnesota (he needs only nine points).

The Denver Nuggets, for better or worse, deserve some credit here. Although Bryant has posted his best scoring average (27.9 points per game) against the Golden State Warriors and has saved the most 40-plus-point games for the Phoenix Suns (11), he scored 40 or more against the Nuggets nine times, tied with Houston for the third-most. (He did it to the Warriors 10 times.)

Here’s a look back at those nine games against the Nuggets, starting with his first two on back-to-back nights:

Setting a patient tone. The Nuggets’ first three possessions of the game were arguably their most efficient, getting them calmed down early and setting a nice foundation in the half court that they could build upon. Each of the first two possessions featured great reads from the passer, multiple passes and the ball finding the hands of a player that had the space to do something with it.

But it was the third possession of the game that was the Nuggets’ best.

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, left, and then GM Masai Ujiri, right, honor George Karl after his 1,000th career coaching win in Toronto a few nights prior. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

On Dec. 10, 2010, George Karl made history. With the Nuggets’ 123-116 victory over the Raptors in Toronto, Karl became only the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 career victories. A few nights later, team president Josh Kroenke and the GM Masai Ujiri honored Karl at Pepsi Center.

Kenneth Faried has had to fight through a rough start to his season. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A couple of weeks ago, Kenneth Faried expressed concern with the state of his game and the start he’s had to this season. In an interview with The Denver Post, he called it “awful” but hoped that December would bring a change.

It hasn’t. Not yet, anyway.

In fact, this month has brought injury to the insult of not being able to get going the way he’d like. Faried’s missed the last two games with a low back strain, and when he has played he’s appeared many nights to be a shell of his former Manimal self. Read more…

Timing is everything. With 28.3 seconds left in regulation, and game tied at 102, the decision was made to run a Ty Lawson/Timofey Mozgov screen-roll. The play call was just fine. The problem came when the Nuggets also decided to run the clock down a much as they did before getting into the action. The Raptors – predictably – trapped Lawson on the play forcing him to have to scramble to get the ball to someone who could do something with it. The end result was the Nuggets didn’t even get a shot off before the shot clock expired. Had that play been run a few seconds sooner, the Nuggets would have had time for Toronto to stop the initial action and still remain unrushed in adjusting to get a quality look off. But when they were forced to do something against a clock ticking down on them, they couldn’t find the look they wanted in time, passing the ball too many times.

Bryant signed an extension in 2013 worth $48.5 million. If he plays through his contract with Los Angeles, he will have spent 20 years with the Lakers.

“All indications are, to me, from him, that this (two-year contract) is going to be it,” Kupchak said. “If somebody’s thinking of buying a ticket three years from now to see Kobe play, I would not do that. Don’t wait. Do it this year.”

The 36-year-old Bryant is averaging 25.2 points for the 5-16 Lakers this season. He is fourth all-time in total points scored with 32,230, just 62 behind former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan.

ATLANTA – Three takeaways the morning after the Nuggets’ 96-84 loss to Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.

Finding a few good reserves. The Nuggets bench suffered through one of its worst outings all year long, which would have definitely qualified for the worst outing had Alonzo Gee not played so well in the second half. If you remove Gee’s 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, the rest of the reserves went 4-of-26 from the field, including 0-of-11 from the 3-point line. Still, off shooting nights happen. The bigger issue is the lack of faith in the bench that crept into Nuggets coach Brian Shaw’s mind. “Sometimes I feel like I can’t take (the starters) out, and I know that I have to,” he said afterward. Read more…

When: Fear. The. Beard. Somehow, James Harden has flown under the radar — as much as a superstar can, anyway — early this season. But his play over the last week has not escaped our notice, and he’s this week’s Denver Post player of the week.

What’s up: In three games, all wins for the Rockets, Harden was as efficient and effective as you’ll see. He averaged 31.0 points on just 14.0 shots per game. Harden knocked down 61.9 percent of those attempts and shot 60 percent from 3-point range. He was a plus-14 for the evaluation period of Nov. 29-Dec. 5 and added 5.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per night.

Background: While the bulk of the attention in the early season has been paid to Cleveland, Golden State and Memphis, Houston has quietly rolled along. Harden has been terrific on offense, as he normally is, carving up defenses and making a steady march to the free-throw line. He averaged an incredible 11.7 free-throw attempts per game in the evaluation period.

Dempsey’s take: Harden takes hits for his lack of defense — he has even taken a humorous shot at himself in a recent commercial for his shortcomings on that end of the court. But there isn’t a team in the league that wouldn’t take him. His ability to get to the rim and get fouled might be the best in the NBA. Harden scores from the 3-point line to the paint, puts immense pressure on opposing defenses and will be the reason for any big-time success the Rockets experience this season.

Nuggets coach Brian Shaw is well into his tenure, having coached 100 games. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

WASHINGTON — In this presidential city, one that measures job progress after just 90 days and checks in frequently thereafter, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw was asked to take the temperature of his tenure after 100 games. Shaw’s 100th game coached was Tuesday’s game against Portland.

Ujiri became the Nuggets’ general manager in 2010 and orchestrated the Carmelo Anthony deal in February 2011. In 2013 he was named the NBA’s executive of the year, but he signed sign a five-year deal to be the Raptors’ general manager that May.

The Raptors hadn’t reached .500 in the previous five years when he took over. They returned to the playoffs last season and are now 15-4 (.789) to sit atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Tim Connelly took over for the Nuggets in June of 2013 and had to deal with every problem (and injury) imaginable for a GM in his first year. The Nuggets started out slow this season, but have since turned things around to get back to .500 (9-9).

Going small. Timofey Mozgov might have finished with a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds), but the Nuggets spent a big chunk of the game employing small lineups. The most effective lineup of the night? Nate Robinson/Gary Harris/Danilo Gallinari/Darrell Arthur/J.J. Hickson. They spent six minutes on the court together, in the second quarter, and here’s how that broke down: They scored 20 points – yes, in just six minutes – on 8-of-13 shots (61.5 percent), 2-of-4 from the 3-point line with six rebounds, six assists and were a plus-14 on the night, the best plus-minus mark of any Nuggets lineup on Monday night. They were only outscored by the Nuggets starting lineup, which scored 34 points as a group in 17 minutes. Read more…

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.

Nicki Jhabvala is the Sports Digital News Editor for The Denver Post. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor, and she was most recently the overnight home page editor at the New York Times.